This is an important article for pastors and especially for those involved in evangelization in America. The article is a distillation of Ryan Burge’s just published book, The Nones: Who They Are and Where They Are Going (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2021). Both the article and book are the distillation of the Pastor Burge’s research and decades-long experience as a minister. In many ways, it was a disconcerting experience for him. He saw his congregation, as well as other Evangelical congregations, steadily decline in numbers. At the same time, the numbers of American who are religiously unaffiliated steadily increases.

Those who have no religious affiliations are now labeled as “Nones.” That is, when questioned as to which denomination they belong to thy respond by “None.” This category has existed for a long time, called Deists in colonial America. They may have been a majority of the American public in the years after independence and before the Second Great Awakening (1798-1730). I encountered many Nones while doing evangelization in a Hippy/New Age neighborhood of Atlanta 30 years ago, but they were not yet given that nomenclature.

Ryan P. Burge, The Nones: Who They Are and Where They Are Going (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2021).

The problem now, as Burge aptly points out, is that the percentage of Nones in the American population had increased dramatically in recent decades. In 1968, 5% of the population were Nones, but now they are over 25% and growing. At the same time, the percentage of Christians who are faithful church attenders is slowly declining. (As I pointed out in an earlier article, this is not as bad as it seems, as those who remain faithful as increasingly devote and more intensely and effectively prayerful.[1]) Burge also shows that the percentage of nominal Christians will practically disappear in coming decades.

Burge has learned the discipline of sociological investigation and with these skills and has identified three varieties of Nones: Those who do not believe in God at all, those who do not participate in any church (but may believe in God), and those who do not behave at all in any Christian manner (but again may believe in God). Interestingly, the hard-core atheists, who are non-attender and non-Christian behavior persons, are only 6% of the population. But as the author points out these are immensely influential in the media and industry and dedicate much of their energies in evangelizing their atheistic persuasion and life-styles. All of this makes for depressing reading. But Burge sees a silver lining in these dreadful statics. About 40% of the Nones still believe in God to some degree, and here is an evangelical opening. To quote him:

In my book I write that nearly 20 percent of people who identified as “nothing in particular” had changed their affiliation to Christian just four years later. And this “nothing in particular” category represents nearly 1 in 5 Americans. The harvest is plentiful!

Thus, at least some come back. I suspect much of that return is fueled by couples wishing their children to be raised in church and a decent Sunday School after they have tasted the sin-driven agnostic’s lifestyle. Sadly, as a non-Pentecostal/charismatic Christian Burge has only the standard Evangelical solutions to offer in order to bring back to church more of the Nones. These include things like listening to others well, outreach for the poor, etc. The last chapter of his book, The Nones, entitled “What we can change and what we cannot,” expresses his mix of hope and befuddlement at reversing the continues growth of the Nones.

But as Pentecostals and charismatics we can hold to a much greater hope. John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard denomination, showed the way forty years ago with his seminal books, Power Evangelism and Power Healing.[2] Specifically, Wimber encouraged evangelization the New Testament way, by demonstrating the power of God in healing prayer and effective prayer in the marketplace, office, or wherever a suitable situation presents itself.

On a practical level this is especially effective by manning a public prayer station right in the middle of a neighborhood where Nones are numerous, as in the places around a university. The public prayer station can simply be a sidewalk sign saying something like “Prayer Station” or “Free Prayer” and a place staffed by persons who know how to minister healing and deliverance prayer and prayers for other intentions. Many Pentecostal and charismatic churches already have trained prayer intercessors who normally minister in church – they can be put outdoors as “None catchers.” The Nones with health issues or other problems will give prayer a shot, and after, the ministers can invite the person to church, or suggest the person give their lives to Christ. On the details of this ministry see my article and book on this ministry.[3]

Reviewed by the Rev William De Arteaga

Notes

[1] “Real Christianity is Growing in the USA,” Pneuma Review (April 16, 2018).

[2] See especially John Wimber and Kevin Springer, Power Healing (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987).

[3] William De Arteaga, “How the Public Prayer Station Started,” Pentecostal Theology (October 24, 2019).

Ryan Lokkesmoe has a doctorate in New Testament from the University of Denver. He currently serves as lead pastor of Real Hope Community Church, which he helped plant in the Houston, Texas area in 2015. Paul and His Team is his second book.

As the title suggests, this is a book about relationships. God puts people in our lives in order to mold us, help us, and shape us. He also, at times, gives us people to lead. The author uses the experiences of the apostle Paul to call our attention to important principles of life and leadership that are found in the New Testament. The main body of the book consists of twelve chapters. The titles of the chapters are: “The Quest for Common Ground,” “Watch the Burden,” Offstage Leadership,” More Than a Ceasefire,” “Worthy Conflicts,” Genuine Collaboration,” “Kingdom Diplomacy,” Relational Stewardship,” “Relentless about Reconciliation,” “Trust in the Fog,” and “Fade to the Background.”

In the introduction, Lokkesmoe shows us that a lot of things go into making us who were are. The influences on our lives include family, friends, books, and churches. All of these have in some measure helped shape us into who we have become. Now, we in turn are influencing others. As Christians we should desire to have a positive and powerful impact on our world. However, we cannot do this effectively by ourselves. In order to maximize Christian impact, we need relationships with other believers. Teamwork is essential; the apostle Paul’s example makes this clear. Lokkesmoe says that qualities like humility, self-sacrifice, and radical grace are essential to the task. In the remainder of the book he sets forth the positive principles that we should pursue and the problems that we will encounter along the way. In the book he uses the words leadership and influence interchangeably.

In chapter 1, the author discusses trying to find common ground. He shows us how the apostle Paul sought to do this with the people he ministered to. In the synagogues he sought to build bridges to the Jewish community by citing the Old Testament scriptures, which they would be familiar with. When he spoke to a non-Jewish audience he altered his approach, he directed his speech to connect with them in their particular culture. For example, in Athens he spoke about their altar to an unknown God in an attempt to bring the gospel to them. As Paul himself wrote in 1 Corinthians 9 he became all things to all men in order to save some. He did not alter the gospel message, but he did craft the message to his listeners. The author says that seeking common ground is wise because it helps to reduce the barriers to the proclamation of the gospel. He points out that if we can find common ground with people they are more apt to like us, and this is a great help in Christian ministry.

In The Presence of God: Its Place in the Storyline of Scripture and the Story of our Lives J. Ryan Lister, seeks to trace the theme of God’s presence throughout redemptive history. The bulk of the volume is devoted to tracing the “vistas and valleys of God’s mighty acts in redemptive history to show where God revels his presence … and help us understand why he does so” (23). Lister’s major argument is twofold. First, that the “presence of God is a central goal in God’s redemptive mission” (23). Second, that the “presence of God is the agent by which the Lord accomplishes his redemptive mission” (24).

The argument is presented in three parts. The chapters in part one attempt to show “how the presence of the Lord is a central eschatological purpose in the Lord’s redemptive mission” (33). Lister helpfully begins his study by providing a definition of the presence of God as the “manifestation of God in time and space—mediated in some sense—working to bring forth redemption and redemption’s objectives and simultaneously, the unmediated, fully relational, and eschatological manifestation of God first experienced in Eden and awaiting the elect in the new creation” (51). Lister’s thesis is then accomplished by looking at Genesis 1-3 and Revelation 21-22 in order to establish that “what Eden was in potential, the New Jerusalem is in full” (86). God’s presence in the Garden and the promised dynasty begun with Adam, though unfulfilled, find their completion in the new heaven and new earth (86).

J. Ryan Lister

Parts two and three set out to demonstrate that in both the Old and New Testaments God accomplishes his purposes “by becoming present” (33). Part three deals with God’s presence in light of the person and work of Christ. Here Lister also presents the theme of Church as temple and the implication of this for evangelism and missions.

Lister is to be applauded for doing good biblical theology. This in itself makes it a valuable study. However, while he acknowledges that space limitations precluded him from addressing some books, such as the Wisdom literature, Ruth, Song of Songs and Esther (146, n.1), this omission is unfortunate. If excluded books were included, it would have made this a more comprehensive work. Perhaps limiting certain sections (over fifty percent of part two is spent on the Pentateuch) and scaling back on certain elaborate footnotes would have made room for the inclusion of omitted and sparsely addressed portions (the Minor Prophets) of the Old Testament.

Reviewed by David Seal

Publisher’s page: https://www.crossway.org/books/the-presence-of-god-tpb/